Will the origins of the coronavirus name lead us to the answers for a cure? The peptide therapeutics combating COVID-19

We look into the peptide therapeutics around the world combating COVID-19

Resources·April 8, 2020

COVID-19 has become a global pandemic that has resulted in unbelieve loss in human life and economic disaster. It’s hard to utilize only numbers to characterize the impact it has had.

With that, the race is on and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space has been accelerating at full force to find a therapeutic. In the last few weeks at CSBio, we’ve seen that while not all companies are working directly on COVID-19 related activities, the need for a strong supply chain of pharmaceuticals has resulted in all of our customers being fully operational during this time and requiring support for their instruments. Some in the pharmaceutical space are even looking to move faster in the delivery of upcoming drugs, whether it be for name brand products or generics. With that said, let’s focus on the latest peptide research for COVID-19.

By now, nearly everyone is quite educated on the background of COVID-19, so we’ll skip the introduction. What some might not know, is that the name coronavirus, the family of virus which COVID-19 belongs, originates from the term “corona”. “Corona” also means halo, or crown. In astronomy, an example is the glow surrounding an eclipsed sun. While in anatomy, “corona” is defined by resemblance to a crown.

Under an electron microscope, that’s where the virus can be seen surrounded by a “corona”, where the spike glycoprotein is what creates the “corona” crown like appearance of the virus.